Big wins for both teams in the first legs of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday kept alive their hopes of lifting a major trophy and qualifying for the Champions League.

Doom and gloom has followed Tottenham Hotspur like a pesky shadow this season, rightly or wrongly. The specific genre of despondency changes with the context – sometimes an injury crisis of epic proportions brought the mood down,

Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham edge closer to the Europa League final, even in a season where he labeled his side as playing in "parallel worlds."